


Natalia's Red Shoes

by Maeday



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-04
Updated: 2012-12-04
Packaged: 2017-11-20 06:30:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/582314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeday/pseuds/Maeday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha Romanoff bought things she liked for herself from time to time. Natalia Romanova only ever bought herself one thing: a pair of red shoes that were just slightly too big.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Natalia's Red Shoes

￼  
“Well pack up your stuff. It’s moving time!” 

Sometimes Natasha could appreciate Tony’s way of barging into anyone’s life and taking over. She did not, however, appreciate his presence in her SHIELD issued room, trying to get into her closet to see what illicit things she might be storing. She grabbed his collar and pulled him away easily. 

“I don’t need your help. I don’t have much,” she said blankly.

Tony gave her a look like he comprehend the idea of ‘not having much.’ She could understand if he didn’t comprehend. She couldn’t find it in herself to hate him just because he was born into a well off family. It’s not like he chose it anymore than she chose to be born into a family with nothing. Well, she had always assumed that her family had nothing - otherwise they wouldn’t have left her.

A phonecall from Steve distracted Tony enough for him to leave the room and she was quick to pull a standard SHIELD duffel bag out from under her bed and start stuffing her belongings into it. There wasn’t much that she actually owned herself. She knew that Tony would assume that she had plenty of clothes. But the things that she wore for missions - the kind that required looking like a civilian - weren’t hers. Those were SHIELD property. Her personal wardrobe consisted of black shirts and black pants and black, sensible shoes that she could run in comfortably if she needed. And naturally several different versions of the SHIELD uniform.

And then there were her weapons, most of which belonged to her. There were gifts from Clint and Phil among them that she packed away carefully to keep them safe and hidden. A lightweight, delicately carved knife from Phil was put away most carefully; she checked that everything was safe in its box before tucking it in among her clothes in her duffel bag. 

Those weren’t things that she was worried about Tony finding. They were things that he would assume she had. Sure he would pick at her things and try to figure out where things were - ever curious and irritating. No the thing that she wanted to keep safest was at the very back of her closet, in a ratty, tattered shoe box that she took out carefully, after glancing back at the door to be sure that Tony was still on the Steve, apparently trying to explain to him how microwaves work. 

She tipped the lid off the box and withdrew the treasure inside.

They were just a pair of old, worn red shoes. They weren’t tall heels or boots or the other things that she had become accustomed to wearing. They weren’t sensible for running or for fighting. And they weren’t her size, too big and gaping around feet from all the years that she had kept them. She smoothed her fingers over the scuffed outsides that had once been soft to the touch but had been roughened by years. 

Natasha Romanoff bought herself things on occasion. Natalia Romanova had not known such privilege. Natalia Romanova had only ever been given things that would assist her in her missions and she had never asked for anything more.

But she had bought these shoes, back when she had been on her first mission in America, completely alone, finished the op early, and was passing by a store in the middle of November with her scarf up around her mouth and her hat pulled low over her ears and eyes, and her hands tucked into her pockets. Her shoes hadn’t matched, grey boots with her brown jacket and red scarf and hat. There were plenty of people around window shopping. Christmas was on the way after all - not that she had known that in more than passing. 

The red had caught her eye. They were sitting in the window of a little store, soft looking and the same color as her scarf. There was a little bow on top and a few faux diamonds at the center. She had worn real diamonds, she knew the way real diamonds shone. But they didn’t seem any less worthy to her. She had been at the window before she knew what she was doing, pressing her nose against the cold class and looking in at the little shoes, tucked slightly behind more flashy models.

She had extra money in her pocket, a little something left over from the budget allowed to her when she went on international missions. She rubbed her fingers over the paper bills in her pocket while she looked in at the shoes. For a moment she thought about all of the rules that she was supposed to follow - never buy anything not necessary for the mission.

She was young and curious and in America, far far away from anyone who could keep her from buying one pair of shoes. 

There was a young couple coming out of the shoe store when she tried to walk in and she slipped past them without them even knowing that she was there. She was momentarily confused by all of the shoes around her but she went up to the counter where there was a sweet looking young woman who smiled at her when she looked up.

“Can I help you?” she had asked.

“I would like the red shoes in the window,” Natalia had said with as much strength as she could but she knew that she sounded a little nervous. This wasn’t a mission. This was just for her. And she didn’t know what to do.

“What size, sweetheart?” the woman asked. The shoe store lights glinted off her bleached hair.

Natalia paused for a long moment. She had never bought her own shoes. She didn’t know her size.

“Not sure?” the woman assumed sweetly. “I can measure you for your size really quick if you want.”

“No. I’m an 8,” she answered, remembering that one of the other girls had complained once that her shoes were too big. ‘They’re a size 8,’ she had muttered, ‘I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m a 7.’ Natalia assumed that, since they had been younger then, maybe she was an eight now.

The woman looked as if she would challenge Natalia for a moment but then she just smiled again, waved a finger in a ‘give me a moment’ gesture, and went to the back of the store. Natalia stood completely still at the counter, ignoring everyone else in the store who was laughing and looking at shoes and picking out ones that they proclaimed went perfectly with some dress or another. It didn’t take long for the woman to come back out with a shoe box that she put on the counter.

“Want to try them on to be sure?” she asked.

“No,” she answered blankly. She fidgeted with the money in her pocket, her confidence waning the longer it took.

The woman shrugged slightly and rang up shoes, putting them in a brown bag and telling Natalia the total that she over paid and refused the change for. She accepted it and left quickly. 

Once safely outside, she found a bench and drew the box from the back. She opened the lid carefully and found the shoes sitting there, shimmering softly from the hazy streetlight. She traced a finger over the outside - slightly surprised to find them so soft. She took them out carefully and toed off her boots even though it was cold and the snow threatened to seep through her stockings. She kept her feet off the ground and slipped the shoes on.

They were too big, gaping a little bit around the outsides of her feet but when she put her boots and the box back into the bag and stood up, she felt a rush of happiness. It surprised her. She looked down at her feet and flexed her toes slightly, watching the fake diamonds glint up at her. She gathered the shoe store bag and began walking back to her hotel room. The shoes slipped ever so slightly before her feet found a steady position in them and she smiled slightly.

The little red shoes were slightly too big and she lied to her superiors when she got back but she was allowed to keep the shoes. The other girls wore them sometimes but she always made sure they gave them back at the end of the day.

The night that Clint Barton could have killed her but made her an offer instead, she said that she had to back to her room to get her things before they went to meet up with his handler. All she took with her was one shoe box with her little worn shoes in it. The same shoe box that she had received them in.

Natasha tucked the shoes back into their box and put it in her duffel bag, zipping it up just as Tony came back into the room.

“Ready?” he snipped, looking down at his phone and texting furiously.

“Ready.”


End file.
